The present invention relates to a compact exercise apparatus and method for providing relief for back pain, and more specifically to an apparatus and method which enables a user to exercise specific muscles along the spinal column using compression and rotation in order to obtain relief from back pain.
By some estimates, Americans spend more than $16 billion per year in their quest for relief from back pain. At any given time, approximately 31 million Americans, or about one in eight people, suffer from back pain. According to the Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, the largest single payer of workers' compensation claims in the United States, approximately $1 million are paid every working day to cover claims by injured workers. Back pain is one of the most common, most expensive, and most litigious forms of on-the-job injuries. The National Council on Compensation Insurance reports that the cost to treat the average back strain or sprain is nearly $6,000 and the average cost to treat a herniated disc is nearly $23,500.
The group of back muscles thought to be the most probable source of muscular spasms and pain is the erector spinae group. This group consists of the spinalis, longissimus, and iliocostalis muscles which run the entire length of the back. Their points of insertion originate at individual vertebrae and ribs at the base of the neck and terminate at the end of the spine.
The muscles of the body are paired in their action. For example a biceps and a triceps, or an abductor and an adductor, work in tandem together. The abductor muscle pulls the forearm in while the adductor muscle allows the forearm to lengthen. Muscle pairing also exists in the muscles of the back. When the abductor is overworked it becomes inflamed and foreshortened. If the abductor is allowed to remain in this state, pain will result. It is only when a painful muscle is returned to its proper resting length, thereby allowing it to rest, that pain is alleviated.
Back pain in the muscles is commonly caused by an improper relationship between muscles of the back where there is typically an overworked, or agonistic, muscle and an underworked, or antagonistic, muscle. Over time, the fatigued, agonistic muscle becomes foreshortened and thus shorter than its normal or resting length. Foreshortening of the agonistic muscle correspondingly causes the antagonistic muscle to lengthen beyond its normal or resting length. This agonistic/antagonistic muscle pairing accounts for much of the back pain commonly experienced today.
Another common cause of back pain is the ruptured intervertebral disc. The intervertebral disc is a section of cartilage that acts as a cushion and a space for the individual vertebral bones. These discs are held in place by the outer ring of connective tissue and muscle called the annulus fibrosis. When the annulus fibrosis becomes weak and tears, the result is a ruptured intervertebral disc.
Many exercises performed in the gym are designed to strengthen and tone the body, but do not address the causes of back pain. Exercises that are typically performed with commonly available exercise devices are done to strengthen the extremities of the body (the arms and legs), the stomach, and the chest. Very few exercises or exercise devices address the erector spinae group or other deep muscles of the back. In addition to this, exercises or exercise devices commonly in use do not adequately exercise intervertebral discs of the spine.
A series of exercises designed to apply a mild traction force to the lower spinal region of the body is often prescribed by orthopedic surgeons to remedy back pain. These exercises, which typically involve rotation of the knees toward the chest region, succeed in applying a moderate amount of traction to the lower spinal region, but are limited in their effectiveness. This therapy for back pain primarily strengthens the sore muscles of the back and is based on the assumption that the muscles are sore because they are weak and must be strengthened in order to relieve pain. This approach fails to recognize that back pain is caused by an unbalanced relationship between an antagonistic muscle and an agonistic muscle of the erector spinae group. One apparatus utilizing this technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,237.
Other currently available exercise devices also do not properly exercise muscles closely associated with intervertebral discs of the back. Rather, currently available exercise devices are generally limited to general exercise of an individual's arms, legs and stomach and do not isolate paired muscles of the back or intervertebrae discs for exercise. Thus, there is an unmet need in the art to be able to strengthen the underworked muscles of an antagonistic/agonistic muscle pairing in order to return these muscles to their proper working length, thereby allowing sore overworked muscles to relax and back pain to be relieved.